Shift or Engage: Between- and within-Person Variability in the Procedural-Readiness Aspects of Identity-Based Motivation

Across five studies (secondary analyses, diary studies, experiments; combined N=2,746), we document situational variability in people’s inferences from metacognitive experiences of difficulty, the procedural-readiness aspects of identity-based motivation. Difficulty-as-importance and difficulty-as-impossibility are commonly inferred when tasks feel difficult. Within-person variability matters for self-regard; between-person variability shapes performance and action.